Month: November 2016

For the last couple of years, Banter has teamed up with the First Fortnight mental health arts festival to host a sports-releated event of some stripe. We’re very happy to join them again in January and we’re especially happy to welcome Paul Kimmage to the Banter stage.

One of the most influential and widely read sportswriters in the country, Paul was a professional cyclist and wrote the award-winning book, Rough Ride, about his time on the circuit before he turned to the writing trade full-time. He will join us to talk about his life as a professional cyclist, his career as a sportswriter, the mental stresses and strains that occur in sport and how sportspeople deal with these.

A Banter conversation with Paul Kimmage takes place at The Workman’s Club, Dublin on Tuesday January 10. Doors open at 6.30pm, the event starts at 7pm and tickets are available here (this event is now sold out).

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It’s time for our now annual trip to the Kingdom. On Saturday and Sunday December 3 and 4, Banter joins Other Voices and takes up residence by the fire in the back of Foxy John’s in downtown Dingle where we’ll be joined by a fine cast of talkers, makers, do-ers and players for some conversations and music. We’ll be open for business both days from 2pm to 6pm and admission is free. Please note that capacity is limited so get there when doors open at 1.30pm if you want a chair or standing room.

Here’s who will be joining us on the edge of Europe over the weekend – big thanks to Banter Other Voices co-conspirator Molly King for all her programming work on this one

Catherine Murphy TD: the Kildare North TD and Social Democrats’ co-founder on her political activism, life as a public representative, the Irish parliamentary system, new politics, the Social Democrats and making the headlines

Aideen Barry: a profile of the Cork visual artist whose Brittlefield retrospective at the RHA was one of the year’s cultural highlights

Eithne Shortall: The Sunday Times’ chief arts writer joins us for Banter’s Review of the Arts to talk about the books, films, music, theatre, art and other cultural highlights and lowlights of the past year

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It is nearly time to say goodbye to 2016, one of the most eventful years on record. From Brexit to the US presidental election, from the general election to strikes, from Syria to Dublin gangland strife, from the Euros to the Olympics, from David Bowie to Prince, it has been a year when it seems as if every single day was notable for what was going on around us.

As we’ve done in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, Banter will be bringing together a panel of folks to talk about the stories of the last 12 months which have resonated with them. It’s always one of the highlights of the Banter year, chiefly because it’s a night which reminds us of stuff that happened which we’d forgotten all about and casts new light on some of the stories which dominated the news cycle for so long.

The details: Banter’s Review of the Year takes place on Tuesday December 6 at Wigam, Middle Abbey Street, Dublin 1. Doors open 6pm, the rewinding starts at 6.30pm and tickets are available here (this event is now sold out).

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They’re expecting 53,056 people to show up at Web Summit in Lisbon this week and Banter will be in there too. It’s our second year to be involved with the event: last year, we recorded long-form conversations with the likes of Irish and Leinster rugby player Jamie Heaslip, Galway hurler Joe Canning, Radiohead and Nick Cave manager Brian Message, Pitchfork president Chris Kaskie City of Palo Alto Chief Information Officer (and former member of The Wilde Oscars) Jonathan Reichenthal, HBO Sports vice-president Peter Nelson, Vox Media global vice-president Jonathan Hunt and Summit co-founder Daire Hickey at the RDS in Dublin.

This year, the Summit folks are giving us a stage and we’ll be in the Startup Workshop Studio in Pavilion 1 of the FIL convention centre on Wednesday and Thursday afternoon if you’re at the Summit and fancy saying hello.

Here’s who we’ll be talking to – all interviews will be recorded and podcast after the event.

One of the founding board members of the Burning Man Project and now the organisation’s first CEO, Marian joins us to talk about keeping the show on the road, maintaining the festival’s ethos and future developments.

A dive into the deep, murkier end of the swimming pool with two Olympians: Nikki competed as a swimmer for Canada in Barcelona in 1992 and Atlanta in 1996, while Allison won a silver medal for the United States at the 1996 games behind Michelle Smyth.

A conversation about communications and culture with the Navan-born bishop who is one of the Vatican’s leading media experts, adjunct secretary to the influential Pontifical Council for Culture and the man who put the pope on Twitter.

The producer of Django Unchained, Pulp Fiction, Erin Brockovich, The Big Chill, Contagion, Gattaca, Get Shorty, Garden State and tons more – and currently advisor to BuzzFeed Motion Pictures – on the state of the movie business in 2016